The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines backed the cause of the National Privacy Commission to protect personal information of its stakeholders, and welcomed data privacy measures Tuesday, when the latter held an information briefing for IPOPHL employees and personnel.

The intellectual property office is taking initial steps to comply with the Data Privacy Act of 2012 (DPA).

The National Privacy Commission is undertaking an aggressive information drive on the DPA, as NPC Commissioner Raymund Liboro underlined government agencies need to be aware not only because the DPA contains a specific provision on government agencies, but because government is the biggest data processing entity.

The Data Privacy Act, according to Commissioner Liboro, acknowledges the right of data subjects over their personal information and enforces the responsibility on those who process and distribute such information, both in government and the private sector.

“Enormous amount of data is being generated per minute, across the globe. Privacy, technology, and innovation is closely linked now in terms of processing that data. If you compare the most valuable companies in the world ten years ago to those of today, the value has shifted from those in hard industries to those who process data. Data is the new oil,” Commissioner Liboro said.

“Madali mawala ang tiwala ng publiko because of the mishandling of personal data,” reminded Commissioner Liboro, underlining how closely intertwined the capacity to process personal data and the image of a company is.

According to IPOPHL’s Deputy Director General for Operations Atty. Nelson P. Laluces, the IPOPHL does in-house processing of its employees’ and external stakeholders’ personal information, and thus classified as a personal information controller (PIC).

In terms of IPOPHL’s external stakeholders - intellectual property applicants (inventors, businesses) - IPOPHL, as part of its mandate, ask, receive and handle both personal information and sensitive personal information.

But the DPA does not apply to personal information of officers or employees of a government institution relating to their position and function.